Tanacetum Vulgare
by Lilacnightmares
Summary: Her disgusting eyes are filled with too much hope. She thinks that Ray is going to come and rescue her one of these days, but she's sorely mistaken about that. Saeran has an idea that he thinks will utterly crush her remaining hope. He can't wait to see the light drain from her brown eyes. Based on Saeran's 2nd Bad Ending.


It was another day and another day meant that things were likely going to get messy. Her eyes may have been clenched shut but that didn't make him go away.

There was no way to get away from Saeran. Lila tried her best to keep her cool but it became increasingly clear that she wasn't going to be able to pretend that she was keeping it together for much longer.

Saeran couldn't stop the cackle that escaped his lips as the girl cowered underneath him like a shaking puppy.

"Tell me, who do you think you are, huh?" He asked. His fingers pressed against the fabric of her collar. "Do you really believe that you're some kind of princess? That marshmallow may have treated you like you were some pretty porcelain toy, but he's not here to protect you anymore."

"Ray can't be gone… he can't be… no… he just…" her voice was soft, so quiet that it was barely audible.

"He's long gone, don't play yourself with fantasies," Saeran corrected her words with a sneer. "If you're praying that he's going to come and rescue you, think again. His hands are just as dirty as mine are, pathetic princess. He wanted to lock you up in this room and keep you all to himself."

Lila didn't say anything in response to that.

She knew better, huh?

Guess she wasn't as dumb as she looked.

Lila swallowed. Her averted gaze returned to his. Those brown eyes of hers were trembling and she looked like she was about to cry. The fingers on his right hand were this close to wrapping around her throat, and as he lifted his left hand, she flinched.

Instead of slamming it into the ground beside her head, he brushed her cheek with the back of her hand as she shook underneath him. His gentle actions did not match up with the words that he was saying at all. His tone was grim and macabre as could be.

"Enough about that insignificant useless fool. He couldn't ever do anything right and he's finally where he belongs! He's gone, erased, deleted, dead. I can't expect an airhead like you to understand me, but if you want to keep breathing then you'll listen to everything I'm saying very carefully. If you dare think for a moment that I'm not the strongest one in this place then I won't hesitate to punish you."

"I…"

His lips curled into a grin.

It was twisted, and far from happy. It was more like a pleased Cheshire Cat that had finally cornered his prey in the middle of the woods with nowhere left to run.

"What was that, pitiful princess? I didn't hear you. Did you say something? Wanna repeat that?"

Lila looked up at him.

She was frightened. She had nowhere to go. She looked so petrified and miserable. Now, this was the power that his Savior had been telling him about all this time. The way that you can feel when you pushed somebody in the dirt underneath you. Now that's something… something that makes his veins feel hot. Where he had felt numb before had been replaced with new feelings.

It didn't matter those feelings meant right now. What mattered was that he was feeling anything at all. To be able to continue feeling, he would have to keep tormenting this stupid toy.

"C'mon, I know what you were going to say. Here since the cat has your tongue, I'll say it for you. You're the strongest, Saeran. You're a winner, Saeran. You're the only person here that matters, Saeran. Pity me, forgive me, don't throw me away because I'm stupid!"

Lila just continued to stare at him with those stupid eyes of hers. He really wanted to cover them. It was disgusting how she could look at him like that. How dare she not beg and plead with him. How dare she act like such an airhead! What good was she if she wasn't any fun?! Those fingers around her neck were dangerously close to tightening. "I hate these eyes of yours. If you don't look away from me then I'm going to get rid of them one of these days."

She flinched, and that's when she started to fight him back again, "Ray… please… come back!"

He felt rejuvenated by her fighting and now he wanted to destroy every ounce of it.

**"Wrong answer." **

* * *

The sound of his voice was still ringing her ears long after he had left her behind in this toybox.

She was haunted by the ghosts of the past and the present as she curled up into a ball in the corner.

There was nowhere for her to go anymore. There was nothing in her world but these four pink walls. She was locked tight in this room and there were guards not only by the door but by the ground underneath the window case she dared to leap for freedom.

Saeran was a tyrant that no one had the power to control.

His actions were always extremely volatile, and once he got it into his mind that you were belittling him or thinking less of him, he would take the opportunity to break you down and crumple you into pieces. His power was only as strong as his ability to break others and demean them.

Lila had been trying her best to toe the line with him. She would hold her breath and do her best to react to him accordingly, and for the first couple of times he came by, she had made a lot of mistakes in her actions.

She fought him back too hard or she gave in to his demands too easily. He would always get angry no matter what she did and she would be pushed away and thrown down.

Day after day, night after night, day after day, week after week… a month after a month?

This had been going on for far too long, that's for sure. Far too long, and far too much of it had been because the so-called Savior continued to support this toxic behavior. Lila wasn't even sure how long it had been since Ray had disappeared and Saeran had emerged.

There was no way to tell the time any longer by her phone nor could she distract herself from it, and the only reason she ever picked it up any more was to answer Saeran's phone calls. Lila was not sure how long they had been playing this game of cat and mouse.

One thing was certain: It was an endless cycle of misery.

Lila missed Ray with all of her heart. She truly cared about him. She was worried about him. She wondered if there was any shred of him left inside of Saeran after the torture that had been forced upon him for nearly forty-eight hours straight by the Savior.

She was also worried about Saeran. He may have been cruel but that didn't mean that he wasn't suffering too. That woman would be doing everything she could to destroy the kind boy that she had come to know only to morph him into something he was never meant to become.

Lila was just… frightened by how easy it was for him to be so cruel.

There was hardly any hesitation. He hardly ever stopped, he just pushed through his actions until he suddenly became erratic and left the room while she lay on the ground in a crumpled heap.

That malice was so far from kindness. Saeran was a different person than Ray was, and while she wanted to understand him, she couldn't deny that she was frightened of what he could be capable of. She just didn't want to break and show that to him since that was what he wanted.

He wanted to break her heart for some reason.

He wanted to do such awful things for some reason.

Why?

Why her?

Why him?

Why was this happening and why wouldn't it stop?

Lila dug her nails into the pads of her palm. This was all she had to do in her time now, she sat and thought about how everything had gone wrong and how badly she had screwed up and why she hadn't taken the first chance to run away with Ray and V as soon as it became possible.

It may have been hard.

But it was better than being uselessly trapped like this!

What good could she do here?!

There was a gentle rapping against the door. Tap, tap, tap. Knock, knock, knock. Tap, tap, tap. Knock, knock, knock. It was unlike the sound of banging and pounding that came from Saeran.

Lila almost thought that she had just imagined the sound but when it happened once more, she pulled herself onto her feet and struggled over to the door to open it up.

She wasn't sure if she wanted to open it.

There were only two options.

Neither of which were ones that she was entirely thrilled with, but she had no choice or say in the matter. With a heavy breath, she rested her hand against the knob and right as she began to turn it slowly, she hesitantly asked, "Who… who is it?"

The voice on the other side of the door was one that she knew very well. But today the tone of that voice sounded so gentle, and quiet. It was far from the gruff and angry tone that she had grown used to, "...It's me."

Her heart nearly sank into her stomach.

Was her mind playing tricks on her right now?

Lila opened the door so quickly that it nearly swung open in the process and she found herself staring at a familiar figure. His hair was neatly combed into place and his magenta suit was pressed. There were signs of wrinkles or misplaced hair that came from the heavy yanks that one would do when they were distressed.

By all accounts, it seemed like it was him.

Like… it was really him.

She thought that her eyes were playing tricks on her because she had had this dream once or twice before, and every time that she reached out to touch him the dream would fade away and her vision would rest on the ceiling above her head once again.

Lila decided to chance it.

"...Ray?" She reached out with her hand for what must have been the millionth time and pressed it to the lapel of his suit. She thought that her fingers would pass right through him like a ghost.

To her utter shock and amazement, she felt fabric underneath her fingertips. A sharp gasp escaped her lips. It was almost wracked with a sob that she choked back down as soon as it fizzled to the surface. Her entire body was shaking from either fear or relief, and he slowly gestured for both of them to make their way inside of the room.

The door shut firmly behind him.

Lila threw her arms around him tightly. She didn't want to let him go in the fear that he would disappear and be gone again. She wasn't sure if her heart could withstand losing him again.

"Ray… Ray… Ray... I… I was so scared I would never see you again. I'm sorry I messed up back then! I never thought… I didn't… I couldn't… I shouldn't… shouldn't have let you go back alone that night!"

Her whispers were nonsensical, and her cries were quiet. She didn't care if she was making any sense or not. She was just so relieved to see his face again. She thought that she would never see Ray again because of what his Savior did.

She thought that Ray was gone forever; She didn't want to believe that.

Just as much as she wanted to believe that Saeran wasn't a bad person. She wanted to have faith in him. She wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt, but it was so hard to toe the line and so hard to keep her cool when he tried to kick her down and break her hopes.

Ray didn't push her away.

As a matter of fact, when he normally would have stuttered or made an apology, he didn't.

It struck her as strange. She didn't say that out loud but something was off about him. Of course, being trapped for hours on end being tortured could really change your perspective.

She wrote it off like that.

His hand pressed against the back of her hair. It was stiff, and a little awkward but that was what she expected from him, and that made her feel much more at ease than she had in days.

His voice was quiet and rang through her ears after a moment, "Lila… I missed you so much."

"I missed you too," she whispered, quietly. "I missed you so much."

Her words were desperate just like the look in her eyes. She was nearly on the brink of tears. Ray stroked her hair down as he would do in the past when he comforted her feelings.

His words were lined with an apology that was lined with the sounds of his sobs. "I had no idea that it had gotten this bad. I'm so sorry that I'm late. I was so scared. It was terrible… I can't. I can't talk about it. It was painful being trapped inside while Saeran was in control of our body."

Lila looked up at him through her flooded tears and gripped tighter at the back of his jacket. She had been scared for him. He had called her some time in the middle of it and she had heard the jarring sounds of strangled breath and pleading begs that just wouldn't quit.

It haunted her every night she closed her eyes. She just had to live with the fact that she was trapped in this room and she couldn't rescue him this entire time.

She couldn't breathe a word of it to anyone, either.

The last time she had managed to speak with Jihyun was when she begged him to save Saeran in her stead if humanly possible. That had been such a long time ago that it felt like it might never happen. The RFA was her last hope for Ray… Saeran… she didn't even care if she escaped anymore.

She just wanted him out of this place before he got hurt more.

His hand reached up to her face and he wiped away her tears with the tips of his thumbs. His smile was so small and delicate that she felt like she was crying even harder now. Lila hadn't felt the touch of a gentle hand in forever.

He continued to speak, "What scared me the most this entire time… was that I might never be able to see you again. I'm so glad that I can see you now. I missed you. It was horrible, wasn't it?"

Lila shut her eyes and leaned into his touch.

"It's okay, Ray. I'm not upset with you. I know it wasn't your fault that this happened. You didn't do anything wrong. You're here now… You're here. I'm here. We're together again. That's all that matters."

She refused to let him go.

She wanted to stay in his embrace as long as she could.

Her Ray sounded so tired and weary from this experience. He had been fighting for so long. He had to be exhausted. His voice was quiet and he still sounded as though he was upset.

"I wish I could have been here sooner is all. You've gotten so thin. It's all my fault, it's all my fault, isn't it?" he mumbled. "Please, don't hate me, Lila. Don't hate me for this."

Lila shook her head.

She had told him before that she couldn't hate him. It was because they were friends and she cared about him more than she had ever cared about anybody else in her life.

She opened her eyes and gazed into his mint ones, "I could never ever hate you, Ray. You know that. I could never do that to you. You're too important to me. I don't want to hurt you. I love you. I love you, Ray. I love you so much. That's what I wanted to tell you before you got flustered in the garden that night. I love you."

Ray stared down at her for the longest moment. His expression was unreadable as it was obvious. She wasn't sure what he was feeling and she wasn't sure if he felt as strongly as she did.

Lila just had to tell him.

He didn't say anything at first, it was like he was trying to understand the gravity of what she had said or that he didn't quite want to believe that she had finally said those words that she had desperately wanted to say to him when they were in the garden and she stole a kiss from his lips.

The night that he had finally decided to possibly open his mind up to more worldviews than the one that he had been taught.

The night where she and he had whispered delicate words to one another in the heat of feelings and emotion.

The night where she held onto his wrist and decided that she was going to do what she had wanted to do for days.

They shared a kiss that night and that night that he was taken away from her against his will. That night had become the best night of her life and the worst night of her life simultaneously. She had the world at her fingertips and then it was coldly ripped away just as fast as she had it.

"Lila," his tone suddenly became serious. His hands pressed against her shoulders as he looked at her with concern. "I heard a lot while I was away. I heard that my Savior is really thinking about getting rid of you soon. I… I will save you. I will beg my Savior to spare you."

Saeran had said the same thing.

She wasn't sure if it had just been a threat he was using to frighten her or if it was something that that woman had actually said to him. Both options were equally possible and she wasn't sure which one made her wearier. She glanced away from him for a moment.

That was concerning. Ray always kept his word so she knew that she could trust him. There was just something else that was biting at her ankles and she couldn't ignore it any longer.

She bit her lower lip. "Ray… Ray, what about Saeran? What happened to him? Is he… okay? Are you… okay? How did you gain control? Did something bad happen again? What's going on out there? Are they going to take you away if they find out you aren't Saeran? We can't let that happen."

The questions came flooding to the surface. Saeran had emerged after hours of pain. That made sense. What didn't make sense was how Ray was here now. What would be bad enough to knock the man from his control and put Ray back in the driver's seat instead?

Ray cocked his head, "...What's the matter? If you're talking about him you must be praying that he's gone for good. Lila… Saeran is another me. He's just as much me as I am myself, you know?"

His tone was so… cold.

Hollow, even.

Lila did a double-take as she read his expression. What was he saying? He had warned her about Saeran himself. He was fearful of the man. Why would he be saying this? Saeran was… unstable. His actions were haphazard and his choices were from what his Savior directed.

She couldn't reason with Saeran.

Ray was supposed to be far more understanding.

"Ray, I… I don't understand. You're the one that told me that you weren't like him," she trailed off.

"We really aren't all that different. We've both done a lot of cruel things, you know? I lied to you to make you come to this place, remember? He and I have are two sides of the same person. If you like me… shouldn't you like him too? Are you saying that you don't like Saeran?"

Lila couldn't look him in the eye. She didn't realize it but she subconsciously started to nod her head. That was when his hands rose from his sides to grip either side of her face so she would be forced to look at him. When her attention snapped onto him she was no longer looking at Ray's gentle smile, no, she was staring straight into the wild grin that belonged to Saeran.

"Good. I'm glad you finally said it. Now I can see your horrid face admitting the truth," his voice was like acid on her skin. "So, you think I'm Ray just because I changed my clothes? Wow, you're pathetic. You really a fucking moron! You can't even tell if I'm your precious Ray or not! Looks like you really don't love him as much as you say because you can't even fucking recognize him."

Lila winced. He was holding onto her so tightly that it felt like her neck would snap if he flickered her any harder. Her tears had begun to pour out again, and she was unable to stop them.

"Ray, no…"

Ray couldn't be gone!

No…

No…

This wasn't happening.

Saeran scoffed at her expression. "Figures. All you two ever did was clutch at each other and cry about your problems. There's no room in your skulls for brains since all you have is crybaby tears. If you think you can plead for that bug to come back, you're mistaken!"

Her heart began to pound against her chest like the angry clatter of thunder during a storm. Her thoughts weren't making any sense whatsoever. Her eyes were trembling as she struggled to find a trace of Ray's ghost. She was clenching her fists so tightly that they had begun to bleed. Whatever part of her that had felt relief was now shattered into little pieces.

If it wasn't for the fact that he was holding her up at that moment she would have crumbled to her knees.

She just wanted to go back to the start.

She wanted Ray back.

She wanted all of this pain to stop.

"Ray…" her voice quivered. "Please."

It was pleading. It was begging. It was groveling.

It was screaming for something that couldn't be had. It was whatever you want to call it. It was the only thing she knew to do at that moment. It was the only thing that she had been doing when he got enough.

"I'm sorry… I should have tried harder to protect you, Ray."

She didn't want any more pain.

"Come back… just please, come back…"

No more games… no more games.

"Please."

Saeran stared into her eyes. It was pitiful. She was looking at him with the shreds of what strength she had left and that spark of fire was nearly extinguished in a matter of minutes. She thought that she could fix her problems by begging for a dead man to return.

It was insulting.

"Hang on," he scowled. "Don't tell me… are you actually enjoying yourself right now?! Who told you that you could do that?! Do you think you can have what you want by asking for it? Do you think you deserve everything handed to you on a silver platter? Do you think for a second that you can pretend that I'm that pathetic bug to please your fantasies?!"

Saeran gave her a hard shove and Lila crashed against the hard floor with a loud thud. Her knees and joints would have such bruises from such a hard fall, but she deserved it. Her tear-stained eyes were still looking up at him with that ugly look within them.

Her chest was wracked with sobs but no sound escaped her body. She didn't try to scramble away from him as she normally did when he did this. Her hands just sat pitifully at her side.

Like a pathetic toy.

Like the useless princess, she was.

Good, it seems like she accepted that this was the end to the means. The only possible outcome. It was always going to turn out like this.

Saeran leaned over and gripped the collar of her shirt, sneering at her dwindling power. She winced at the pain but that was the most that she did. The tension in the air was so thick that you needed a knife to puncture it, much less cut through it and push it away.

There was no choice.

He didn't miss a beat as he spoke, "Give me your phone. You don't even deserve to have that anymore. You know why? You're useless, Lila. You're pathetic. You're a plaything. You're an airhead. You're nothing. You're a nobody. You are a useless toy that doesn't deserve to think or feel."

That was when the light left her eyes. She went numb. Lila no longer sobbed or pleaded with the air, she no longer whimpered and cried, and she no longer fought. Her eyes lost their clarity and she did nothing but stare at the open air.

Whatever ounce of strength she had in her little body had been stripped away all because of him.

Finally.

Saeran had finally destroyed everything that Ray loved and cherished.

He couldn't stop the laughter from coming,"...Hahaha. Your eyes lost focus. Yes, that's it. That's what you deserve. Lifeless eyes to go along with your porcelain body. Now all you are is some useless toy, huh? You are a moron. You are useless. You are mine to use… my weak, pathetic toy, Lila."

**He was the strongest. **

* * *

"Here, a gift."

She sat at the table with her hands pressed politely against the table. Saeran had entered the room without having to say a word to get her attention. The door shut behind him and he strolled across the room until he was standing in front of her with a small box in front of him.

Lila stared at him, and then her gaze lingered on the box. It seemed no different than the rest of the gifts that he had brought. The dozens of which were lined on the floor and tables that she wasn't allowed to touch.

Her shaking hands tentatively reached out to grasp it with her fingertips.

The room was brightly lit today.

The wall was painted a creamy pink with all sorts of colored gold and silver embellishments that seemed to insinuate that the occupant of it was either a very young girl who loved to fairytales or somebody with a penchant cute things that hadn't grown up and out of it.

It was decorated painstakingly by hand to see like a paradise. Ornate and delicate trinkets and furniture, all sorts of presents opened and unopened strewn about the place. It seemed to be a space that someone who was cherished would find themselves living.

One may have thought that the girl that lived inside of this room was spoiled rotten by those around her. Sure, why would they think otherwise?

Her name was neatly combed, and her skin was as white as porcelain as if she hadn't been outside in the sun in quite a long time. Her cheeks were carefully colored with just enough blush to give her life that she seemed to be otherwise lacking.

She was dressed in quite a lovely dark dress that only could have only described as something a princess of the night would wear, black as a night without the stars or moon above. It was floor-length and covered most of her body. It was far more classy than the childish bows and ribbons that she had once worn.

She wasn't the sparkling vision that Ray had gladly chosen for himself. No, Saeran had made sure to change what he wanted and how he wanted. She didn't protest it, either.

Lila just nodded her head and listened to every word that he said. Why else would she not do it? She knew that she wouldn't be breathing if it wasn't for the pity that he had for Lila. If he decided to do, she could be thrown away right this very moment.  
His little games were just fun for him, and it was the payment for her breathing lungs.

Just as her fingers brushed against the edge of the package, he snatched it away and out of her reach.

He sneered at the smallest hint of a reaction that fluttered in her eyes. "Was that a smile? You know this isn't for you. You know very well that everything in this room isn't meant for you, it never was. Only a good girl deserves to be rewarded."

She lowered her head so that she was looking at the table in front of herself instead of at him. She had made a mistake. He wasn't happy. He wasn't happy with her actions. She didn't deserve to look at him after failing yet again. If she failed him, then he would leave her alone again.

Of course, that meant she was staring at the spread of food that was in front of her now. There were so many things there… and she wasn't allowed to touch those either, Saeran noticed if she did. It was just like all of his presents. She didn't deserve to have it.

She deserved to see what she wasn't good enough for.

"There is nothing that you deserve, remember? You're far too arrogant, pft. I can't believe how dumb you can be," He tossed the gift onto to the evergrowing pile and looked back at Lila. "Don't even bother with the food. Only good, useful girls get to eat. You just sit there nice and quiet. If you do, maybe I'll pity you enough to give you the crumbs that I should throw away."

His tone was blunt. "That's what you are, you know that? Trash."

Saeran would sit down and make her watch as he ate everything in sight. Lila knew better than to turn her head. She had to sit there and behave if she wanted to get anything.

Even then, she wasn't guaranteed anything. It was all up to what Saeran wanted, and whatever he wanted was what she earned. What did it matter anyway? This was all she was good for and the only reason she existed now.

He was the only person that existed in her world now.

When Saeran wasn't with her, she was alone with her thoughts and lost in the hours and minutes. It was miserable. At least when he pitied her she had a reason to exist, at least there was a reason to feel and to breathe, at least he would grace her with Ray's presence every now and again.

Today wasn't one of those days.

Lila almost wished that it was one of those days. It was the only time of her life when she felt alive again. She closed her eyes for a moment as Saeran turned his attention away from her for a moment. She could almost imagine it herself, and if she did this, it was enough to tide her over until the next time.

She was grateful for Saeran.

He may have been angry with the world but he was kind enough to show her the pieces of Ray that lingered around. Saeran was wearing his clothes today, the dark suit and not the bright one.

If Saeran was particularly bored or in the mood for a playdate, he would put on Ray's old and mostly unworn clothes and come into the room without saying a word.

Part of her knew that it was a game.

The rest of her didn't even care anymore.

He would be so gentle with her with everything that he did. His hands would press against her cheeks in the same way that Ray would do. He would whisper delicate pleading words of forgiveness and compassion. Tears would spill from her eyes as she clung to him.

Sometimes, if she was really lucky that day, Saeran would let his game of pretend go on for a long time. The longer that she thought that Ray was back, the number she became with each passing event. Did that matter when she got a moment with him?

The last time that Saeran had visited her room he had been dressed as Ray. He was great at being him. His footsteps were gentle against the ground, and he had leaned over to pull her into his embrace. She couldn't remember what she had said to him exactly, but she could clearly remember clutching at his suit and stealing a kiss from his lips.

It had escalated from that point to something that a blurry mess. Kisses and heavy panting that didn't get much further than something heavy petting. It was just enough to rile Lila up, only for Saeran to stop the game before she gained any satisfaction.

He sneered in her face.

What was it that he had said?

Oh, right.

He laughed at the desperation in her eyes. "Did you really think that Ray would have ever done this? Do you really believe that he would have fucked a miserable fool like you? That pathetic airhead couldn't even handle a kiss from you. The minute his dick got wet he felt ashamed of himself and ran away as fast as he could. Don't make a fool of yourself, pitiful princess. I'm the only one here that could have ever done this."

Suddenly, her attention snapped back to life as Saeran cleared his throat. He must have noticed that her eyes had done dull. He was looking at her and his arms were pressed to his hips.

"Oh, I just remembered what I was going to tell you. Soon, I'm going to get a perfect girl for me. She'll be smart, and useful. Somebody who listens to me instead of disobeying," he chuckled.

Her eyes visibly widened.

Saeran liked that. "You'll be so jealous, won't you? I can see it in your eyes. You won't be able to do anything about it. You'll just have to live knowing that there's somebody better than you in every way."

If… If he didn't care about playing with her anymore that meant she was going to be spending more time in this toybox. She would be alone. She would be alone. She would have to suffer knowing that somebody else is getting all of his attention in the world while she rots.

If the terror is visible on her face, she doesn't know. She did her best not to react but her hands were shaking. She didn't want to be alone.

Lila hung her head. It wasn't like she had a say in the matter whatsoever.

Saeran chuckled at how easily she quit. She didn't even try to fight it. She just knew what she had to do. "Oh, come on, it looks like you've already given up, pitiful princess. There might be hope for you. Hm, c'mere, I'll give you another chance to impress me. Kiss me. I might even adore you a little if I like it."

He beckons her to come forward.

Lila doesn't hesitate.

She climbs onto her feet, although her joints creak and her bones ache, she walks over to him and tentatively rests her hands against his shoulders. She doesn't have a lot of strength. She does her best to stay on her feet, and she leans over to press her lips against his own. It's gentle, it's chaste, it what she thinks that he wants.

For a moment, he seems pleased with her choice. His hand rests against the back of her head so that she can't pull away. It may feel as though he's going to give her another chance. Saeran doesn't let her leave until she's gasping for air and her lungs are burning.

That was when she pulled away and noticed the disgust in his mint eyes. His disdain is clear. "That was the worst kiss of my life. Ugh, you make me feel like I'm going to have to rinse my mouth to get rid of your disgusting taste. I can't believe you didn't even try."

Lila shuts her eyes.

She failed, again.

The hand that had been resting against her head brushed against her cheek, and he cocks his head. "You should never stop getting hurt, princess. So, then I get to have all the fun of torturing you. I'll build you up and then I'll break you down over and over again if that's what it takes. Watch the light and hope fade from your face until there's nothing left. That's all your existence is worth now."

She says nothing. There is nothing left to say. She just stares at him, the defeat in her eyes is evident. There's no reason to fight anymore, right? She's nothing but a toy for him to play with and throw away.

"I will play with you forever and ever. I'll keep tormenting you, to the point where you're barely breathing. Because you are my prey. You're my toy," Saeran reminds her of her place. He expects her to do something more but when she does nothing but look at him with her stupid eyes, he hisses.

Lila is numb.

The gentleness is gone. His hand is pressed against her throat, and he's this close to squeezing it just to see her react, "And what the hell are you staring at? You're so fucking arrogant. Do you think you've earned any right to look in my eyes, Lila?! You only get to breathe when you entertain me, toy."

Saeran's made his mind up. He glowers at her pitiful expression, and he longs to see her terror grow again from nothing. "Since you've been so arrogant, I'm going to do something you hate the most. Don't give me that look It's no use. I'm going to leave you here alone."

That's it.

That's all he needed to say.

Lila's eyes are panicked, and she nearly has a spark of life in them. It's fear, it's the terror, it's the realization that she's a failure. She knows that she is nothing without him

Saeran can't hide the smirk that crawls onto his face. He shoves the girl until she falls back against the ground. She hits the ground and lands on her side where she continues to stare up at him from her low vantage point. She belongs in the dirt, she's beneath him.

He feels rejuvenated. Now he feels like he can do everything he needs to do to destroy the RFA. "Yes, that's it. That's the way you should look— like you're going to die from loneliness! That's the face that you deserve. You only deserve to sadness and nothing more. Don't you dare forget that!"

Saeran starts to walk away from the pitiful princess. He only stops once he's standing in the doorway and almost out of it. He turns his head to look back at Lila, whose hand is weakly outstretched towards him as if pleading for his forgiveness and pity.

She's such a fool.

Such an idiot.

His lips are curled so wide that it could have rivaled the Cheshire cat. He made sure that she was looking at him when he spoke his parting words, "Hahaha! Don't worry, you'll be my toy forever. _Forever_. I'll be back for you. _Eventually_."


End file.
